


right from the start you were a thief (you stole my heart)

by goldflower



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, and harry knew all along, and let's say they're 17 in this idk, basically niall's in denial, lots and lots of mentioning of the word stupid and i apologize, oh and i'm in love with the idea of niall singing to harry so yeah
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-06
Updated: 2013-04-06
Packaged: 2017-12-07 14:51:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/749763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldflower/pseuds/goldflower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"cool, what are you going to do?"<br/>"go to the aquarium."<br/>"really? did you know that star fish don't have a brain?"<br/>"neither do you."</p><p>or the one in which niall hates harry until he realizes he doesn't</p>
            </blockquote>





	right from the start you were a thief (you stole my heart)

**Author's Note:**

> so, i read a kids book and got inspired????
> 
> and basically this is what happens when i have no internet

If you were to ask Niall if there was anything missing in his life, he would look at you like you're an idiot before shaking his head and telling you no. As far as he was concerned his life was fine and wasn't exactly missing anything important. Life was great.

Until it wasn't.

A car along with a big truck pulled up in front of the house next door to Niall's, which was strange because no one has lived in that house for over five months or so. Maura comes up behind Niall who is still staring out the front window at the people next door and taps his hips to catch his attention.

“Dinner's ready.” She says before walking away. Niall grunts and makes an angry pouting face before following behind her, sitting in his chair at the table. Its ham and some cheesy stuff that he's not too sure about and a little green stuff too and seriously what kind of combination is this? He at least has a cup of water to wash the stuff down with.

“Who's in next door?” Niall asks after poking the cheesy stuff and seeing it bounce a bit. Just, nasty.

“Some family from England.” Maura answers as she forks down a forkful of the cheesy stuff. Niall grimaces and tries not to puke up the bile in his stomach. She does know how gross it looks, right? “Only three, I think.” Niall nods and looks away because what else is he supposed to do.

“Parents and a kid?” Greg asks and Maura shakes her head.

“No, a parent and two kids, I'm sure. Think ones around Niall's age.”

“Gross.” Niall says and hits Greg's hand away before he can flick him in the forehead.

____

Niall really wants to choke on his spit and die or kick Greg in the shin's for even suggesting he does this. It's stupid, really, and he should be in his room pretending he's doing his course work when he's actually watching a movie on his laptop instead of this. Anything but this.

Greg even convinced Maura to make him bring a _cake._  A fucking cake and he was stuffed into some stupid fucking dress shirt that he didn't even know he owned and seriously? When did it have to be so _formal_ welcoming someone to the neighborhood? Either way he's standing on the porch in front of the house and balancing the cake that's actually kind of heavy on one hand while the other is in a fist about to knock on the door.

A boy around his age with brown curly hair and a beauty mark near his bottom lip and a vintage-looking Queen shirt opens the door and Niall forgets what he has to say.

“Did you know a pregnant gold fish is called a twit?” Niall really wants to die because who says shit like that and he just embarrassed himself in front of his new neighbor that he doesn't even know the name of yet. Still, he shoves the cake in the boys hands who just quarks an eyebrow at him.

“I'm Harry.” He says and Niall hates him.

“You're a twit too.” He spits and walks off the porch and back to his house, sparing a glance at Harry before stepping inside and he swears he saw that little shit smirking at him.

____

That was probably the most embarrassing thing he's ever done and he wishes he could suffocate himself or maybe just disappear in a big hole or something that would make him not see Harry again, but he calls his best friend instead.

“A boy moved in next door.” Is the first thing he says when he picks up.

“Well hello Sunshine, good morning to you too.” Niall ignores the fact that it's _3pm._

“Shut up, I hate you and I hate him and he's so _stupid_ and has a fucking beauty mark near his lip and _fuck_ I hate him.” Niall whines into the phone and Zayn chuckles.

“Alright, whatever, you hate him. Don't talk to him then, it's really that simple.”

“I hate you.” Niall hangs up.

____

Turns out, it's actually not that simple because he's always outside in the yard doing whatever it is that he does almost every single day and Niall is really annoyed by it. It's almost _February_  and its _cold;_  he should really be inside and not possibly getting hypothermia from sitting on the snow in his jeans every day. He tries to avoid him by walking as quietly and quickly as he can, but he stepped on some gum or something because his shoe keeps making this weird squishing noise against the shoveled walkway and Harry looks up at him. Niall groans and turns to face him when Harry calls his name.

“Where are you going?” Harry asks and Niall scoffs. Really? He wants to know?

“With some friends.” Niall answers anyway and slowly starts to turn to walk off, hoping Harry gets the hint. He doesn't.

“Cool, what are you going to do?” He really tries not to roll his eyes, he does, but he can't help it and it happens. If Harry noticed he doesn't say anything. All he was going to do was hang out with Zayn and possibly get drunk in his basement then do something stupid like see if he could fly if that was how he was feeling, but decides to take the piss out of Harry instead of telling the truth. It seems funnier.

“Go to the aquarium.” He says, faking enthusiasm. It's not really a lie though, there's a local one just a few blocks from Zayn's house that they sometimes go to. The fish seem funnier when they're drunk and it's great fun, until a secuirty guard catches on and chases them out, but even that's great fun too. Harry seems excited though because he leans forward, his crossed knees dipping into the snow a bit, a hand going down to balance him, and his eyes are wide.

“Really? Did you know that star fish don't have a brain?” He asks it likes it's the most interesting fact in the world and Niall breathes heavily out his nose.

“Neither do you.” He says before turning and walking away. Sure he should feel bad, but he doesn't. Harry's just so, and he has that smile, and that beauty mark and.

Niall hates him, okay?

____

Zayn's great and all but Niall's really starting to have second thoughts because he brings up Harry just as he gets a goal on Zayn's net in FIFA.

“I hate you.” Okay, so he _tried_  to get a goal, but his thumb twitched and the ball actually hit the post instead.

“No, seriously. What's he like?” Zayn gets a goal and Niall huffs out a sigh and pauses the game, turning to face him.

“He's gross and stupid and gets fucking excited when an aquarium is mentioned, Zayn, an _aquarium_."

“You think aquariums are fun, thou—.”

“That's not the point.”

“Then what is the point?” Zayn asks slowly. Niall groans and lies down on his back, rubbing his face with his hands before placing them beside him.

“The point is that I hate him and he's stupid and that fucking _beauty mark_.”

“I think you've mentioned the beauty mark before.” Niall glares at him.

“Shut up.” Zayn laughs at Niall and pulls him into a sitting position.

“Honestly, I don't think you hate him.” Zayn says with a shrug.

“But I do.” Niall insists.

“Okay.” Zayn says and Niall glares at him.

____

Harry invites Niall to his birthday party that's in two days and Niall thinks he's an even bigger idiot than he thought. Isn't it obvious that he hates the kid? He insults him every day, but still his mum is insisting on him going and that's how he finds himself at the shopping center with Zayn looking for a present for him.

He's not even sure what to buy the kid, they're not exactly friends and he knows practically nothing about Harry except that he loves being outside and drawing or writing or whatever it is he does in that notebook, and that he loves old bands if the shirts are anything to go by.

Niall kind of wants to sit by the fire waiting for Harry to warm up while listening to some of Harry's favorite songs, but it's not like he's going to voice that, no. He would have to be a mad man to admit that aloud, but that doesn't stop him from smiling softly at the thought. It would be nice, is all, getting to listen to all that music.

“What do you think of this for him?” Zayn's holding up knee high socks that Niall's pretty sure he got from the girls section of the store. Zayn's an idiot too. He would give socks to, like, one of his cousins or something, not _Harry_.

“Put those back, you git. I'm not giving him socks.” Niall says before grabbing onto a pair of briefs that he was looking at and feeling the softness of the fabric. Would he want underpants? He doesn't even know what he's doing, to be honest, and his cheeks start to heat up when he realizes that he might have possibly been thinking about if Harry wears boxers or briefs or goes commando at least once before.

“But you'll give him pants?” Zayn asks once he's back and Niall wants to hit him. “Wait,” Zayn says after a few seconds of watching him. Niall really hopes he hasn't noticed his red cheeks. “You've thought about—holy shit, Niall. You've thought about what type of pants he wears, haven't you?”

Niall hits him in the shoulder.

“Oh my _fuck_ , Niall. I bet you've even thought about whether he goes commando or not.” Zayn's laughing but Niall's eyes widen and his cheeks get even redder. Zayn stops. “Oh my fucking _god_  are you serious? You have?” Niall quickly nods his head before turning around and Zayn's laughing again.

“Will you shut the fuck up and just look, please?” He asks exasperated while holding up a shirt that he hopes is his size before putting it back. “I only have two days to find a present for Harry and I can't do that if you're just laughing like a maniac in the middle of the store.”

Zayn gasps in a few more breaths before apologizing and walking up behind Niall to help him look. He's pretty calm but his body is still vibrating from laughter and “Why don't you just find out yourself if he's the commando type or not.” Niall kicks him in the shin.

“I'm not going to do that!” Niall whisper-shouts. Zayn starts laughing again, even though Niall just kicked him in the shin, which he's not even sure if he really felt or not.

“Why not? You've thought about it.”

“I hate the kid, I'm not doing that.” He says, like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

“Yeah, right, you hate him.” Niall wouldn't have a problem with this statement if it wasn't said so fucking _skeptically_  and just, fuck you Zayn. “What do you want to get him anyway?”

“I was thinking maybe making him a mixed CD if everything fails and I can't find him anything. Or maybe I could write him a song, he seems like the type to go on YouTube and find unknown artists, so maybe he'll appreciate that.” He's surprised by how calm he sounds and shrugs, but he starts to regret saying anything because Zayn's giving him this look and he's not sure how he feels about it.

“You want to write him a song?”

“Yeah or make him a—.”

“A song? That's, like, what you do for your girlfriend or boyfriend or whatever. Or when you want to woo someone, Niall, you don't hate Harry.” Is everyone seriously so stupid?

“What are you talking about? No it's not?"

“Oh my—Niall.” Zayn grabs both his shoulders and starts shaking him. “You don't hate Harry. Are you seriously that thick? You want to write him a song, you thought about what type of pants he wears, you're obsessed with that fucking beauty mark he has, I bet you even thought about taking him to the aquarium some time, haven't you?” Niall's eyes go wide.

“Oh my god!” He pushes Zayn away. Honestly, yes, okay he has thought about taking Harry to the aquarium just to see if his eyes go wide like they did when he mentioned it the day before when he's looking at the fish. And maybe he wondered if Harry would get scared of the sharks and grab onto his hand and hide his face in his neck and he thought it would actually be really nice if that happened and he wouldn't push him away and, _Jesus_. “I like Harry.” He says like it's a bad thing and Zayn huffs out a disbelieving laugh.

“Finally you realize.”

“I like Harry and I've been insulting him, he probably hates me too what do I do, Zayn? I ruined my chances before I even realized I wanted a chance I'm such an idiot what do I do!” He's so worried and scared and his eyes are wide and he's out of breath and just, fuck, what does he do?

“Get him the best birthday present ever that expresses how you feel and how sorry you are for not realizing how fucking in love with him you are before.” Zayn says with a shrug.

“Oh, I think I have an idea.”

____

It's almost midnight and Niall's actually kind of very tired, but if he doesn't do this now then it wouldn't be perfect and everything will go to shit. He spent all day and the day before working on making this perfect and he'll be so upset if he doesn't get to do it. So that's why he's standing in front of Harry's house looking up at, hopefully, Harry's window with his guitar slung around his back and a handful of rocks ready to be shot.

He shoots the first one and it misses by an inch. The second one just makes it and a light turns on. Third ones charm because the windows opened and Harry's head is sticking out.

“Niall? What are you doing here?” Harry asks.

“Um, well. Hold on.” He pulls out his phone and checks the time, waits until the digital 11:59 switches to 12:00 and puts it away, smiling up to Harry. “Okay. Happy birthday, Harry.” He says, pulling his guitar in front of him and smiles up at Harry when he sees him smiling down at him. “Alright, so I'm sorry for all the name calling and being rude, I didn't realize until two days ago, so I'm really sorry.”

“Wait, what did you not realize?”

“How I felt.” Niall says with a shrug and his cheeks heat up.

“Well, how do you feel?”

“Just. Let me show you?" Harry nods. “Okay.” Niall says under his breath and positions his fingers on the right chords.

_“Come with me, my love, to the sea,_  
 _The sea of love_  
 _I want to tell you how much I love you_  
  
 _Do you remember when we met?_  
 _That's the day I knew you were my pet_  
 _I want to tell you how much I love you_  
  
 _Come with me, my love, to the sea,_  
 _The sea of love_  
 _I want to tell you how much I love you.”_

“So that's how you feel?” Harry asks coolly, but Niall sees the smile threatening to spill over his features and he laughs a little.

“Yeah. Yeah, it is.”

“Good.”

____

So, yeah. Harry's eyes do go wide when he's looking at the fish in the aquarium and Niall thinks it's so adorable. His face is practically flush against the glass and his palms are on either side of his head and the smile he has makes Niall's insides go to mush. He's like a child and Niall finds it all endearing. Niall's kind of disappointed that Harry doesn't get scared of the sharks though; he was really looking forward to Harry holding his hand.

“Did you know a shark can detect one part of blood in 100 million parts of water?” Harry asks as one swims past. Niall just nods and feels a little stupid once he realizes that Harry's back is to him, but Harry turns around anyway. “What's wrong?” He asks walking up to him.

“Nothing, I just. No, it's stupid.” Niall says motioning slightly for Harry to just go back to looking at the sharks. Harry just smiles softly at him instead before reaching out and grabbing Niall's hand, pulling him over to the glass. When they get to the glass Niall expects him to let go, but he doesn't, just squeezes it a bit and Niall can't help but smile.

“Do you know what my favorite present was today?” Harry asks suddenly.

“The present your grandfather got you?” Niall asks because it's actually a really cool present and he won't admit it, but he's slightly jealous. Harry just shakes his head and rests it on Niall's shoulder.

“Nope. It's yours.”

“My present? I only sang you a song and took you to the aquarium.” Niall whispers, shrugging his free shoulder.

“It's still my favorite present. Want to know why?” Harry asks looking up at him. Niall looks down at him and smiles, nodding his head. “Because I can do this,” He leans up and presses his lips to the corner of Niall's mouth. “Anytime I want now. Even in the car, this makes having it even better.” He finishes with his lips an inch from Niall's.

“You're an idiot.” Niall says with a laugh and Harry smiles at him.

“Maybe.” He says then kisses him quickly again. “But you're crazy.”

“Hey, don't be like that.” Niall whines and Harry starts giggling in his neck. It's nice, better than having him press his face there when he's scared, Niall thinks. Well, he needs a true comparison, but with how Harry his vibrating against his side and how he's able to feel his smile pressed against his skin makes him think that, yeah, this is better and Harry is exactly what he'd been missing in his life.

 

**Author's Note:**

> the kids book is called 'yuck a love story' and it's very very cute (✿◠ヮ◠)


End file.
